Sixteen
Eiric
It tookhim more than twenty minutes to find the little imp. He smelled Aksel’s trail, but every time he thought he had him, the dragonling hid in another nook. Knowing Lottie had to be beside herself with worry, Eiric hurried after him, searching for his small form in the gloom.
He hoped they wouldn’t be seen by anyone, especially since they were approaching the Brundal marina—if he concentrated, he could smell the scents of cooked food coming from the Sverdfisk.
In the end, he found Aksel curled up on a sea-splashed rock, chewing an orange starfish. Eiric groaned and gently nudged the half-eaten invertebrate from the dragonling’s paws. He decided to keep that piece of information to himself. Lottie was probably freaked out enough as it was.
Then he gently clamped the little one between his teeth and carried him back up the shore to the bay where his brother and the love of his life were waiting for him.
Though he was sure that Magnus would be able to handle the witch, he was still relieved when he saw the stranger lying on the beach, out for the count. In their larger form, dragons were nearly impervious to damage, and a single witch shouldn’t have presented a problem to his brother.
Still, Magnus now sat on the shore, completely naked, an angry red burn on the side of his body. Elise stood next to him in her dragon form, holding on to his knee and wobbling slightly, and tried to pat his face with her paw. Eiric watched as Magnus smiled at her, a genuine, happy smile, and a huge weight rolled off his chest.
Magnus had come to help Lottie and the kids. Without question, he’d plunged into danger and protected them when Eiric couldn’t.
He gently put Aksel down in the shallows, and Lottie raced over to pick up the baby. She exclaimed over him, tears streaming down her face, and scolded him for swimming away. The dragonling curled up against his mother’s chest and mewled.
Eiric changed to his human shape and waded to the shore. He hoped Lottie wouldn’t mind him and Magnus in the buff, since his clothes had all disintegrated when he’d jumped into the sea and changed earlier. His phone had gone with them.
Lottie kissed the top of Aksel’s scaly head and put him on the ground, a safe distance from the water. Then she threw herself at Eiric, and he caught her in his arms, holding her close as she sobbed.
“I was so worried,” she cried. She wiped her face on her t-shirt, which was stained with blood.
Not hers—he would have smelled that immediately. He knew her scent better than his own now, and he buried his nose in her damp hair, inhaling deeply.
“That madman took them, and then Aksel escaped, and I had no idea…” She hiccupped and pressed her fingers to her mouth.
“It’s over now,” he told her, trying to soothe her. “It’s all right. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Lottie sniffed, her eyebrows creasing in a frown. “Well, of course he can’t. He’s unconscious becausethatman ate his hand!” She pointed at Magnus. “I bandaged the stump as best I could, by the way, because I don’t think there’s any way to get that hand sewn back on again.”
Eiric hugged her close and glanced at his brother. Magnus’ face was hidden in the shadows, so Eiric couldn’t discern his expression. Suddenly, Magnus lifted Elise, deposited her closer to her brother, and hurried to a cluster of taller rocks. There, he hunched over and threw up, heaving and coughing.
“Yeah, I think the hand’s lost,” Eiric muttered.
She shuddered in his embrace, then lifted her face to him. “What happens now? Will more witches come for the babies?”
Eiric took a deep breath. “I wish I knew.”
The witch lay motionless on the shore, his hand bandaged by what looked like a baby onesie. They’d have to get him some proper medical attention or at least cauterize that stump of his, or he would bleed to death before they could question him. And they needed to question him. If he was a lone wolf, the trouble might be over, but if an entire coven was about to descend upon them, every dragon on Drageøy was in danger.
“Are the kids all right?” he asked.
They seemed to be, Elise still in her dragon form, while Aksel was now a naked baby boy. They explored the rocky shore, and Elise licked her claws, probably tasting the salt.
“Yeah,” Lottie sighed. Then she rubbed the back of her head. “I’ve got a lump, though.”
“You should get your head checked out,” Magnus called from where he was washing blood off his face. “You hit it pretty hard.”
Eiric snapped his attention back to Lottie. “You hit your head?” He cupped her face and peered into her eyes. “Do you feel dizzy?”
She gently pried his hands away from her cheeks and kissed the inside of his palm. “No. He pushed me back with some sort of spell—or whatever that was.”
His blood boiled at the thought. “Hedid that to you?”
He turned to the unconscious witch, thinking that it might be a good idea to change back to his dragon form and stomp on him.
